Thick and Yummy Lemon Bars
(This recipe is part of the “End of Summer Picnic Experience“)

Serenity of Nature

Hiking in the serenity of nature has got to be a top love of my life. Although there is a beauty to be explored in the US Midwest where I live, it doesn’t provide majestic mountains, rocky bluffs along the Pacific Coast, or trails with exotic landscape. So I have to make the best of what is afforded me and/or travel far and wide to broaden my horizons. I’ve chosen both!

Vermont – A Land Unspoiled and Uncluttered

Recently, my daughter, Nicole and I traveled to Vermont which, by the way, is gorgeous. It is a land unspoiled and uncluttered. On one of our vacation days, we decided to pack a picnic and go on a hike in Brandbury State Park. We stopped by a little general store on the side of the road, grabbed some meat, cheese and bread. Then we spotted them – homemade lemon bars on the corner shelf. And of course, they went into our bag.

Hiking – No Walk in the Park

Our hike started out pretty normal with groups of people leisurely walking the trails. Nothing ambitious, nothing demanding, just a nice day out in nature. We came to a divide where we had to make a choice between two trails. One was named Aunt Jenny which sounded pretty innocent. But the other, Rattlesnake Cliff had an overtone that was quite disturbing. We weren’t dedicated enough for a strenuous hike that day, only a light stroll up the mountain. Aunt Jenny was the obvious choice.

But it was a sick joke someone played on us that day. Aunt Jenny was anything but a “walk in the park.” She was an arduous trek straight up that mountain. We kept convincing ourselves that around every bend we would find the loop back to the bottom. But every bend was just another steep climb.

Picnic on the Mountain

At this point, we determined it was necessary to replenish ourselves. We sat down upon the edge of a plateau and removed from our backpack the food we brought, along with two mini bottles of wine we have packed that morning. This little morsel of food was like a feast for us that afternoon. We sat the mini bottles of wine down to take a photo and lo and behold if one of those bottles didn’t fall right off that ledge. The next thing I knew, Nicole was climbing down that ledge, wrestling through the brush, and who knows what kind of critters, to recover that little bit of liquid courage to finish our hike. The clinking of our bottles in “cheers” was the highlight of that day. Of all the picnics I’ve had in my life, this one was nothing extravagant but definitely a memorable top on my list.

Oh, by the way, we found the Rattlesnake Cliff trail on the way down only to realize it was the most leisurely and beautiful trail we had been on that day. Somebody obviously did not like their Aunt Jenny.

Thick and Yummy Lemon Bars

I found the perfect Yummy and Thick Lemon Bars recipe about 25 years ago in a 1979 Better Homes and Gardens Cookie Cookbook and I can’t tell you how many batches I have made over the years. I have doubled the ingredients that were in the original recipe because I like the bars thick. The filling is perfectly gooey, with both sweet and tart flavors that kiss each other in the most delightful way.